1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric element, a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
The piezoelectric element is an element having a characteristic of changing its shape according to the application of voltage and has a structure interposing a piezoelectric layer between an upper electrode and a lower electrode. Piezoelectric elements are used in a variety of applications, for example, liquid ejecting head portions of ink jet printers, various actuators, and the like.
For example, JP-A-2005-178293 discloses a piezoelectric element having a form in which the lower electrode is set as a common electrode and the upper electrode is set as a separate electrode.
Regarding piezoelectric elements, there are cases where moisture or the like sticks to a side surface of a piezoelectric layer, such as during manufacturing or driving thereof, whereby the side surface of the piezoelectric layer sometimes becomes a leakage path between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. When leakage current is generated between the upper and lower electrodes, the piezoelectric layer is burned and the reliability of the piezoelectric element may be deteriorated.